Jim Himes was born in Lima, Peru, and moved with his family to the United States at age 10. He now resides in Greenwich, Conn. He earned a bachelor's in social studies in 1988 from Harvard University and a master's in 1990 from Oxford University.

Himes is a former vice president of Goldman Sachs and vice president of Enterprise Foundation, a non-profit community affordable housing organization. He also served as a member of the Greenwich town finance board and was chairman of the Greenwich Democratic Town Committee.

He was elected to the U.S. House in 2008.

Himes and wife, Mary, have two daughters.

Jim Himes became the first Democrat elected to represent Connecticut's 4th Congressional District in more than 40 years in 2008.

After the election, he was appointed to the Financial Services Committee and continued to serve on that committee in his second term.

Himes endorsed the work of the Simpson-Bowles deficit reduction panel in 2010 that called for cutting about $4 trillion from the federal budget over the next decade through an approach that included closing tax loopholes and spending cuts.

He joined Democratic leaders in calling for U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner to resign over a sex scandal and said he would give away $2,000 that his campaign received from Weiner. Weiner resigned in 2011 after tweeting lewd pictures of himself.

Himes praised President Barack Obama's support of gay marriage, saying he had supported it for years.

Himes supported the 2010 health care reform bill and continued to champion it when the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the law in June 2012.

"We can now move forward with the Affordable Care Act's reforms, which will lower costs, better coordinate our health care, and provide more financial stability for families and businesses that purchase health insurance," he said in a statement at the time.

On foreign policy, Himes voted in 2011 in favor of a resolution limiting U.S. involvement in Libya to search and rescue efforts, intelligence gathering, aerial refueling and operational planning, and opposed a measure authorizing the president to continue operations in Libya for one year.

Under pressure following an outpouring of national rage over executive bonus plans, Himes co-sponsored a bill in 2009 that allows bonuses if the Treasury Department and financial regulators determine they are not unreasonable or excessive. The bill also allows financial regulators to set standards for employee compensation at companies that accept bailout money.

Himes was also heavily involved in 2009 in a House task force that created a detailed set of principles for modernizing financial regulations following the 2008 economic meltdown.

When incumbent Democratic Rep. Charles B. Rangel stepped down as chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee in March 2010, amid an ethics investigation into his finances, Himes was one of a handful of Democratic lawmakers who announced they would give campaign donations linked to Rangel's fundraising away to charity. Himes donated $16,000.

Himes began his career as a banker for Goldman Sachs, eventually becoming the company's vice president. In 2003, he left the company to work for a nonprofit organization called Enterprise Community, an affordable housing developer. In 2007, he became Enterprise's vice president. He has also served on the Greenwich housing authority and on the Greenwich board of estimate and taxation.

Himes supports tax policies that encourage jobs in the United States rather than abroad and supports universal health care coverage. He advocates for bringing U.S. troops home from Iraq immediately.